A review by mitskacir
Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion by Bushra Rehman

4.0

I read this book on audio in fits and starts, so I really want to reread it with a paper book so that I can think about it more closely. The beginning seems more like a short story collection, vignettes of a young girl's life, so I didn't analyze them too closely. However, the story becomes more cohesive as she ages, and a lot of the symbolism comes back from the early chapters, making me wish I had thought more especially about the titular roses and lions mentioned frequently in the book. I felt like the main character's voice was quite young, maybe more of a middle schooler than high schooler, but I did appreciate that she wasn't unrealistically wise or overly hardened by the world like some teen portrayals are. I really loved this book because, until the very end, I didn't feel like anything significantly bad was going to happen - something about the author's calm narration or the many happy moments throughout made me trust that things would be ok.